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Ex-City Official Sues Atlanta Mayor Over Firing

A view of the jury box of a courtroom closed due to budget cuts and layoffs, at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles March 16, 2009. Beset by an unprecedented budget crisis, the LA Superior Court, the largest trial court system in the US, today laid of 329 employees and announced the closure of 17 courtrooms, with more of both expected in the future. AFP PHOTO / Robyn BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

File photo of a jury box. (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

ATLANTA (AP) — A former city employee is suing Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and other city officials, saying he was fired after raising concerns that a woman still had city equipment and access to the city’s computer system after leaving her city job.

Jomo Reynolds, a former Atlanta Department of Watershed Management official, filed the federal lawsuit this month in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

WAGA-TV reported details of the lawsuit. Reynolds told the station that he also raised concerns about a possible conflict of interest involving the woman’s new job with a company that does business with the city.

Reynolds said he was worried that the woman’s continued involvement in official city business after leaving her city job was “inappropriate, improper, and in violation of state and/or local law, policy, ordinance, and/or regulation,” his lawsuit states.

“Mr. Reynolds’ lawsuit has no merit whatsoever,” the mayor’s spokeswoman, Sonji Jacobs Dade, said in a statement sent Thursday to The Associated Press.

“If and when he decides to serve the complaint, the City of Atlanta will vigorously fight these baseless claims,” she said. “Because this is a pending litigation matter, the city cannot comment further at this time.”

Reynolds said he was fired in January in retaliation for voicing the concerns, including his fears that the woman had access to confidential information which could result in harm to the city.